Rio Tinto, Sumitomo to build hydrogen pilot plant in Australia (NYSE:RIO)

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) said Wednesday it will team up with Japan’s Sumitomo to build a “first-of-a-kind” hydrogen plant in Australia, as it aims to cut carbon emissions from the alumina refining process at its Yarwun facility.

Rio (RIO) said the program is aimed at demonstrating the viability of using hydrogen in the calcination process, where hydrated alumina is heated to temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.